Exurbs and Politics

An article in today's Washington Post describes politics in the gated exurban communities. There are a couple of choice comments from the article.

"One reason local politics seems so distant, residents say, is that when issues do arise -- say, speed bumps vs. stop signs -- they tend to look to their own private government, the homeowners association, for a solution."

Private government? Government is public by definition. Private government is like lynch mobs.

"He was chatting last week with a neighbor, Nancy Perilla, on Valhalla Drive, where green and manicured lawns were free of political signs, which association rules do not allow, and where on a sunny, warm afternoon near election time, there were no candidates going door to door, because solicitation is not allowed, either."

I guess that means no selling of girl scout cookies.

"It sounds awful," Perilla said, "but it was turning into a more working-class neighborhood. More pickups -- not that there's anything wrong with that. . . . There were problems we didn't want to deal with -- at least on a personal level."

Yeah. Pickups. That's a sign of a bad community. How dare people drive such a vehicle. And how dare you have to deal with people from the 'working class' on a personal level.

"At a certain point, you want your kids to grow up in Mayberry," Jamie Lechner said. "And this is as close to Mayberry as we can get."

Mayberry. I'd never want my kids to grow up in a place like Mayberry. I want them to learn about others. People who are different than they are - ethnically, religiously, socially. I want them to explore the world. All of the studies done in b-schools show that you get your best ideas when you have a diverse group of people working on a problem, not one type of person.

"This is not a bubble," said Lisa LaBelle, who moved to the development three years ago from Massachusetts. The evidence, she said, is in all the charitable work that residents of Dominion Valley do. There is a drop box in the sports pavilion for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she said.

Yeah. A drop box. Glad you care so much.